Mending the Broken
by KayRaineMariahAkari
Summary: Arthur and Merlin go hunting and Merlin ends up alone and tortured. Arthur thinks it's all his fault, the knights and Arthur must save Merlin before he loses himself. Merlin!WHUMP Reveal-fic
1. Chapter 1

"Merlin, you idiot, hurry up!" Arthur called back at his bumbling servant who lagged behind him.

Merlin carried his Masters' gear which included a spear, crossbow and for some odd reason even his sword that should be safely placed in its sheath along with the water skins and the packs for the two men needed for the hunting trip.

"Clotpole…" Merlin hissed under his breath.

"_Mer_lin, have you any respect to those above you?" Arthur lolled.

"As long as they aren't you, sire." He smiled. He got an eye roll in response.

They continued to trudge through the forest until Arthur abruptly halted and raised his hand to signify Merlin to mock him.

"Wha-"he started, only to be quieted by the whiz of an arrow passing in front of him and hitting a nearby tree.

"Run!" The King yelled. Normally the man, backed by knights and not completely alone with his useless servant, would fight back; but they outnumbered them too much for Arthur to allow a proper fight to brew.

They ran from the rogue barbarians, side by side and darting between trees. They were gaining and Merlin knew.

"Run faster!" Arthur called to him when he started to slow.

"I can't!" In truth Merlin was already weak from the day of rigorous hunting and being woken too early to eat. I another truth it didn't matter, they were surrounded now.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? A knight and a serving boy? No doubt you have something I need, money perhaps." The leader taunted.

"We have no money or valuables, we are hunting." Arthur said, going along with the knight charade.

"Yes, is that true boy?"

Merlin only nodded as to not open his mouth and get them into more trouble.

"Right then, kill them." he commanded.

The henchmen drew their swords and began to close in on the two.

"What now?" Merlin whispered.

"I don't know you bumpkin, why do I have to come up with everything?" Arthur responded in frustration.

"At least we'll die together." Merlin smirked.

"Really Merlin, how can you smile right now?" Arthur shouted. He didn't know what Merlin was about to do, what he was about to give up. Smiling was his way of letting the pain go, telling himself it'd be alright.

Arthur's eyes betrayed him then. He thought he saw Merlin's eye color change to a golden yellow and his lips uttered what he believed a was a spell. He thought he saw all the bandits fly through the air, pushed by an invisible source.

"Run!" He thought he heard Merlin say.

He allowed himself to be pulled by Merlin hastily. Blindly running he didn't think about what had just what happened.

"Ah, Emrys, you have met my mortal friends." A tall, hooded figure emerged from behind a tree in front of them.

"Who are you?" Merlin or now Arthur heard Emrys, answered back.

"Rylinius, a druid leader. But you don't care do you? Not since you gallop around and protect the King who is the very ruin of our kind."

"Arthur is a great King."

"The prophecy has yet to come true Emrys and we're tired of waiting for freedom. Give him up and join us or accept the consequences." Rylinius sternly stated.

"Good thing I never take the easy way." he responded.

Arthur still stood frozen in shock of Merlin's secret revealed to him. He registered more words said and more magic thrown.

But magic was evil, right?

"Arthur, stop standing there you dollop-head and run!" he called.

Arthur was angry and took this opportunity to do as he was told and leave Merlin there. How dare he lie to him and betray him!

He ran until he couldn't hear the spells any longer and the quiet of the forest surrounded him.

Merlin, a sorcerer! All these years, living right under him, someone he called a friend! A friend? A friend! That was exactly what Merlin was. a friend. So, he uses magic. He'd never hurt him or Camelot! He'd always been there for him and he had just left Merlin there by himself with a sorcerer who could kill him because of him!

He ran to the place he left Merlin. He saw nothing but stillness. The sorcerer wad truly after Merlin not Arthur. Now, his neckerchief lay on the ground, the faded blue stained with a bit of blood hoped but could only be Merlin's.

He had to get him back, this was all his fault.

* * *

When Arthur returned to Camelot, the first person he seeked out was Gaius. The physician was not in his chambers and luckily was on the training field helping the next set of people he needed to talk to.

The knights.

Soon, after Arthur's pleading freaked them all out, Gaius, Percival, Elyan, Gwaine and Leon all gathered in the physician's chambers to here Arthur's tale of Merlin and his magic. Gaius looked perplexed about Merlin's magic which in turn told Arthur he knew.

"Gaius, you knew."

"Yes, sire, since the day I met him. He saved my life." The knights stared in disbelief.

"I always knew Merlin was special, always riding out completely unarmed with the likes of us crazed killers, he had to have something in him since he's not dead yet." Gwaine chuckled.

"Yes, and he must have some odd sense of self-concept if he thinks we're just going to leave him in the hands of some evil sorcerer." Elyan added.

"It's settled then, we ride at dawn."


	2. Chapter 2

Merlin blinked into the uneasiness of the pitch black; his eyes had recently woken and were still adjusting to the cell's darkened environment. He tried to mutter a spell under his breath in case someone might hear only to be answered by a tightening restriction around his wrists that dug into his flesh.

He sighed and remembered the events that brought him here. He had shown Arthur his magic, the King of Camelot. He had seen the surprise cross Arthur's face when his eyes changed, before he even said the words. Arthur had become frozen then, completely oblivious to anything around him except to stare at Merlin in disbelief.

Although Merlin knew Arthur was bound to act the way he did, he had expected a bit more understanding. He _had_ told Arthur to run, but before he knew of Merlin's secret, he would have told him to shut up and let him help; instead, he ran, resentment clear cut across his friend's face.

Merlin hurt, not necessarily physically but within his body all the same. He knew he didn't deserve to feel betrayed; after all, he's the one who's lied to Arthur all this time. He still felt they were closer than how Arthur reacted, but what else could he have done? Let Arthur die?

"Ahh, Emrys, awake now?" Rylinius's voice echoed from the other side of the cell bars.

Merlin constituted no response the heinous sorcerer.

"You will talk, soon. You will tell me all I need to know." He smirked. Merlin smiled back in a twisted sense of sarcasm and defiance, giving Rylinius a sour mood.

"Bring Kaman in."

Now a man three times Merlin's size in weight and build walked up to Rylinius's side and joined in staring at him.

"This is my good friend Kaman; he's great at getting people to talk Emrys."

The cell door creaked with rust as Kaman and Rylinius entered and strode to Merlin. He could see what appeared to be a leather handled whip resting at Kaman's side.

"So, Emrys, tell me about your king." Rylinius inquired.

"He's quite a dollop-head."

Kaman brought his gigantic fist to collide with Merlin's profound cheekbone.

"Now, now Emrys, let me rephrase. What do I need to do to take Camelot from your king?"

"I wouldn't tell you if I knew." Merlin grunted. He was again greeted with Kaman's limb hitting his face.

"On more time, tell me how I need to go about taking over Camelot. What are the weak points of the castle?"

Merlin didn't even answer this time but merely turned his bruised face to the corner away from the two vicious men.

"I was afraid you wouldn't comply, alright, Kaman, plan B."

Merlin felt himself being lifted and his already encased hands placed in a tethered rope above his head. His feet only grazed the floor and his shirt and jacket were ripped from him.

"Tell me Emrys, why do you continue to defend a man who turned his back on you for something you were born with. He's not coming for you."

"Loyalty is a mysterious thing." he answered.

The next thing Merlin felt was the sting of the leather handled whip he had seen at Kaman's side earlier against his back. He tried to stifle a scream from escaping and three more licks carved into the surface of his back.

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"Never."

Merlin's back felt white hot as more slashes were made to decorate his crimson filled back now.

* * *

Arthur rode on his horse in silence, something he was sure Gwaine had never heard of. The man wouldn't stop talking about how much mead he would need after this trip was over.

Leon rode beside Arthur and kept giving his glances of worry while Percival on the other side kept giving him looks of confidence. Elyan was behind and talking eagerly about how many times Merlin must have saved them all.

_Mer_lin? Save him? He was the king! He didn't need saving. But maybe he did. After all, he wouldn't have guessed Merlin to be a sorcerer in a million years, so what else was a lie?

"Let's make camp here." he called to everyone, who were already dragging as the sun fell.

About an hour later, they all sat around the fire and sighed.

"So all we have is Merlin's neckerchief to follow right now?" Percival broke the silence.

"Yeah." Arthur responded. He was so stupid for letting Merlin face that sorcerer alone, for leaving him. He was the idiot.

"Remember Lancelot? I bet you with how close those two were, he knew Merlin had magic. No wonder Merlin was so upset, I mean we all were, but they were really close." Gwaine said to everyone.

This took Arthur aback. He didn't think of that. Arthur didn't think of a lot of things when it came to his manservant anymore.

When it was time to get some sleep Arthur wanted to take first watch, but was overruled when they all voted Leon.

Arthur hoped they wouldn't be too late in saving Merlin, his best friend, because this was all his fault.


End file.
